Heartbeat
by Ryth76
Summary: Naruto's smile cleansed his soul... a collection of 26 sentences on Gaara's crush on Naruto. Fluffy shounen-ai. Pre-confession or unrequited GaaNaru, which ever you prefer. Short flash fics.


_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I do not make a profit from writing this story._

**A/N: Unrequited GaaNaru sentences, because Gaara's complete adoration of Naruto is way too cute. I actually wrote this a while ago, but never bothered posting it. I guess I thought I would write more than 26, but I never did. Oh well :)  
**

**

* * *

**

**Heartbeat  
**

**#1 Tease – **While they didn't joke outright, he could feel his siblings give each other amused, knowing looks as he told them once again about Naruto's kindness and he thanks them silently for not making fun of his Naruto fixation.

**#2 Soft –** Gaara imagines Naruto's hand is calloused and rough from hard work; he is mildly pleased to learn otherwise.

**#3 Recluse –** Gaara said he'll probably grow up to be a lonely recluse, the blond corrected him fiercely and said firmly, "I won't let that happen," and Gaara's spirits soared.

**#4 Exposed – **Gaara's couldn't breathe when Naruto knocked his diary out of his hand and, tripping, landed with his nose in the page with his picture surrounded with hearts.

**#5 Cheek – **When the Tsuchikage laughs and calls him a cheeky brat, Gaara thinks of how flustered the old man would be around Naruto and finds himself lost in the blond Jinchuuriki's blue eyes.

**#6 Domestic –** "This would be a nice home someday," Gaara muses to himself "Naruto likes a lot of space and there is already grounds for a cacti garden inside…" and he ignores the important detail of Naruto's interest in Sakura only.

**#7 Necklace – **Gaara watches the sad Kyuubi boy clutch the shattered shards of his special necklace and his heart aches for the precious blond.

**#8 Sink – **As he strolled to where a grieved Naruto and a solemn Sakura huddled in the snow, Gaara felt his stomach plummet even before they spoke to him.

**#9 Control –** Gaara thought of the untamable Kyuubi host yelling at him for suggesting he hide from the Akatsuki and smiled.

**#10 Animal –** Sometimes when Gaara looked into the horizon and thought of Naruto, he wished they were beasts with no regards to morality; that a man and a man – a Kazekage and a Leaf-nin – could be together like all the happy couples strolling the streets.

**#11 Nerve – **Gaara gathers up courage to confess his admiration for Naruto, and three minutes later he stands frozen outside Naruto's office, cursing his lack of willpower.

**#12 Wordless – **Their mutual understanding remained unspoken, but even the silence wasn't enough for Gaara's heart to reach him; Gaara knew this all too well and feigned he didn't care to protect what they had.

**#13 Behavior –** Observing Naruto's uncertainty over his former comrade and lack of fire, Gaara chides him for his weak demeanor before having to stop himself from telling him what he meant to him.

**#14 Fingertips – **Naruto's fingertips brushed down Gaara's wrist as he helped him up; Gaara had never been so glad he had refused aid from a kunoichi.

**#15 Trapped – **Gaara watches the strange blond drag himself along on his chin, and his chest hammers as he struggles to move as though under a heavy net.

**#16 Climax – **The peak of their fight came not when Naruto's fist slammed across his face or when he spoke of his love for his friends and sympathized with Gaara's pain, but rather a minute later when Gaara felt the first warmth in his heart toward this Uzumaki Naruto and realized he was precious to him.

**#17 PMS –** Naruto often commented that Gaara when they first met acted like a woman on her period and Gaara tacitly suggests that this was the true reason why he killed all the time, since he didn't have a flow of his own, and smiles at Naruto's spastic expression of shock inside.

**#18 Redemption –** Naruto's smile cleansed his soul and awoke a desire to be even stronger so he could protect the kindness that saved him.

**#19 Grateful – **Gaara thanks God each time he receives news that Naruto once again eluded the Akatsuki, and prays that it won't be the last.

**#20 Dare – **Naruto preaches everyone should aim for the stars, so Gaara does; less than three years later, he sits in the Kazekage seat and wishes Naruto could be there to see how far he had come.

**#21 Minimum –** Gaara always felt tongue tied around Naruto; the bare minimum of words he managed out the first time they crossed paths after their fight was one word: "Naruto…"

**#22 Will – **Gaara worries, when he tells Naruto the kages plan, that the will of the blond will prevent him from fulfilling his debt to his friend.

**#23 Court – **When Konoha sued Suna for damages, Naruto muttered to Gaara that he would vouch for them and Gaara's stomach fluttered.

**#24 Drunk – **He always felt tipsy when the loud blond visited the village; he stumbled over his chair when Naruto stepped into the office, reached out with a hand to catch himself reflexively and sent the cactus pot on his desk flying toward Kankuro's face.

**#25 Boat –** Gaara sat down the swaying wooden contraption and folded his arms across his chest – water or no water, if Naruto needed him, he would just travel any way necessary to get to him.

**#26 Circle – **Gaara realizes with painful jolt, as he watches Sasuke smirking through his exhaustion, that he is seeing his worst deed ever come full circle at last and hopes that Naruto can forgive him if the Uchiha dies.


End file.
